Wendell Bray
| appearance.last = | appearance.episode = | appearance.list = show }} Wendell Bray is one of the rotating interns introduced in Season 4, first appearing in the episode The Perfect Pieces in the Purple Pond. He is portrayed by Michael Grant Terry. Season 4 Wendell misunderstands Temperance Brennan's attempts to discover why younger men are attracted to older women, thinking that Brennan is hitting on him and worrying that the only way to keep his job would be to sleep with her. Angela Montenegro sets him straight, explaining that Brennan's interest in the subject is purely anthropological. Wendell is relieved, saying that he needs the job, as he owes a significant sum of money. Angela worries that Wendell is in debt to the mob and that this might compromise him on certain cases. When Angela voices her concerns, he explains that his local community collectively paid for his education and he needs to pay them back, and that his sense of urgency in repaying them is due to his gratitude. In another episode, he reveals that his mother calls the scholarship that allows him to intern at the Jeffersonian "the miracle", and jokingly remarks that she spends more time in church thanking God than the priest does. In Fire in the Ice it is revealed that Wendell is a member of Booth's ice hockey team, "Fed Cases". Wendell is hurt during the game against the "Firedawgs", inciting Booth to get into a fight with the opposing team's enforcer, Pete Carlson, who later becomes the episode's murder victim. Later, during another game against team "The Fuzz", Wendell and Booth try to make suspect Lou Herrin bleed in order to gain a sample for DNA testing. Wendell collects samples while playing, passing them off to Dr. Brennan in the stands. While investigating Pete Carlson's fish tank, he inadvertently confesses that "the last time he did something like this, he ended up in juvie hall for the weekend." Then, in The Cinderella in the Cardboard, he tells Hodgins that he grew up on the streets, stating that it doesn't take long for him to get a "feel" for people. Season 5 In The Bond in the Boot, Cam finds out that Wendell's scholarship has been pulled due to lack of funding. She tells Brennan and Hodgins that his scholarship could be saved if someone would donate the money. At the end of the episode, as Bray is saying goodbye to the team, Cam walks in and tells him that money for his scholarship has been donated anonymously. After he leaves the room, she smiles and tells the rest of the team that the donations were three times what was needed. In Tough Man in the Tender Chicken, Angela asks him for money to help save a piglet. Even though he is a professed meat eater and is deep in debt with student loans, he still contributes $45 to the cause and Angela kisses him in return, sparking a relationship and ending Angela's almost six month celibacy kick. Their relationship continued throughout the middle portion of Season 5. Angela had a pregnancy scare during The Proof in the Pudding, though a second pregnancy test run by Dr. Saroyan reveals the first to have been a false positive. When Wendell eventually finds out, he tells her that had she actually been pregnant, he would have supported her no matter what she chose regarding the baby because it would be his duty and "the right thing to do." Seeing that Wendell views the prospect of raising a family with her as a duty to be carried out on moral and ethical grounds rather than something he actually wants, Angela realizes that while Wendell is a great guy, he is not "her guy" and she subsequently ends their relationship. The break-up is amicable. Season 6 After the dissolution of the Jeffersonian's Washington, D.C. forensics unit between seasons 5 and 6 due to Dr. Brennan's departure, Wendell gets a job at a vehicle repair shop in order to make ends meet. Upon her return in the Season 6 premiere, Dr. Brennan hires him out of her own pocket to help her on a case. Since she opts not to return to Maluku after the case is solved, Wendell is able to regain his former position as an intern at the Jeffersonian. However, this still does not provide enough income for him to repay his debts, so he continues to seek additional work. In The Pinocchio in the Planter, he fails to obtain a job as a bartender, but manages to convince Dr. Saroyan to give him more hours at the Jeffersonian. In the season finale, Wendell is present when Hodgins reveals his newborn son Michael Staccato Vincent Hodgins. He, Hodgins and Angela become closer through this season showing there is no awkwardness or angst between them. Season 7 He is the intern in The Memories in the Shallow Grave, The Crack in the Code and The Past in the Present. He is a little afraid of a pregnant Brennan but they still have a good working relationship, but he does begin to question whether Brennan did kill Ethan Sawyer. Season 8 Wendell is among the five interns Brennan selects to idenitify lost remains. Initially the five engage in a contest to see who can identify the most. However when Arastoo stumbles across the remains of a possible 9/11 victim, Wendell begins to freak out and after the interns have a heart to heart about their personal experiences on that day, Wendell (the last to speak) reveals that his uncle died at the World Trade Centre in New York. Wendell spent 9/11 and the next few days with his aunt, and it's a very sensitive topic with him. In The Doll in the Derby, Wendell is about to celebrate his 29th birthday but he seems to be a little sad about it, as he thinks he hasn't achieved anything. However, it was his brother winding Wendell up due to a bet. Wendell won. In the episode he reveals that Angela painted him naked while they were dating, much to the disgust of Hodgins. Later, Wendell gives the painting to Hodgins and Wendell had painted (badly) over his private areas. Season 9 In Big in the Philippines, he had been diagnosed by Dr. Brennan with Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer. Wendell did not want to seek treatment immediately, having seen his father suffer through chemotherapy that ultimately failed. However, Booth tells him to get the treatment because Wendell has a whole life to live. By the end, Wendell decides to fight the cancer, even if he dies. Personality Initially, Wendell appeared as a bit of a hot-head. However, it is revealed slowly that he is a really sweet young man who just wants to get the job done to the best degree. Others have commented that Wendell is "the brightest graduate", "the one with the most potential" and "the normal one". Wendell is also represented as the more "normal" intern since he is capable of 'getting squinty', playing hockey and indulging in relationships at the same time, showing a balance in his life that many of the other 'squints' at the Jeffersonian so conspicuously lack. This quality clearly demarcates him from Dr. Temperance Brennan, with whom, he states in Season 5, it has been his 'dream' to work. That said, Wendell can be a little arrogant as seen in The Patriot in Purgatory but that is due to the competitive nature of the situation. Both he and Arastoo are affected the most during the case due to their emotional involvement. Trivia *His mother went into labor while riding a roller coaster and goes to church more than the priest. *His father was a heavy smoker who died of cancer. Wendell doesn't smoke himself, but when faced with a problem, he sometimes finds it helpful to think about what his father would do, and holding an unlit cigarette in his mouth helps him get in the proper state of mind to do so. *He has a brother who is a night-watchman. *He has an uncle who is a funeral director. *He had an uncle who was a firefighter who died in New York during 9/11. *He has a cousin who is a soldier in Iraq. It isn't known if this cousin is the child of Wendell's uncle that died on 9/11 or the child of the funeral director. *He won his school's science fair when he was a kid. *He dated a woman called Cheryl Cates, who he describes as a "Complete Loon". *Wendell's ironic facial hair was a Jazz Dot in college, which he clearly regrets. *Wendell seems to be quite handy. He worked in a garage between Seasons 6 and 7, and Booth mentions that he and Bones could hire Wendell to remodel their house. *He was briefly a boxer in his youth. *He was diagnosed with bone cancer but he is fighting it. Appearances Season 4 *The Perfect Pieces in the Purple Pond *The Bone that Blew *The Fire in the Ice *The Cinderella in the Cardboard *The End in the Beginning Season 5 *The Bond in the Boot *Tough Man in the Tender Chicken *The X in the File *The Death of the Queen Bee Season 6 *The Mastodon in the Room *The Bullet in the Brain *The Sin in the Sisterhood *The Blackout in the Blizzard *The Pinocchio in the Planter *The Change in the Game Season 7 *The Memories in the Shallow Grave *The Crack in the Code *The Past in the Present Season 8 *The Patriot in Purgatory *The Diamond in the Rough *The Doll in the Derby *The Party in the Pants Season 9 *El Carnicero en el Coche *The Woman in White *The Dude in the Dam *Big in the Philippines Category:Jeffersonian Institute Category:Recurring characters Category:Interns Category:Season 6 characters Category:Season 4 characters Category:Season 5 characters Category:Season 7 characters Category:Season 8 characters Category:Season 9 characters